Here’s where I provide my own cautionary tale so others
don’t have to make the same mistake I did. This past weekend, we decided to set
out for Salzburg Austria (as, undoubtedly, you will have figured out by the
plethora of blog posts about Austria that you’ll be seeing in the next few
days).
In getting our preparations together, we planned our route,
our place to stay, and all of our activities. We had everything
covered…everything except for one thing. And it could have been avoided if we
did a simple search online for “Driving in Austria”. So without further ado,
the highs and lows of driving in Austria. We’ll start with the low, because
pretty much everything else was a high:
The Autobahn Vignette
In the US, we pay for tolls on the road as we drive. Lanes
that require a sticker are clearly marked. This is not the case in Austria.
Driving from Italy through the Brenner Pass (which is amazing) and just past
Innsbruck, the Austria Autobahn requires a sticker, called a Vignette, to drive
the roads. It’s a basic sticker that costs 8 Euro for 10 days. Not pricey at
all. The problem is, it isn’t terribly clear that you need one, unless you’re
fluent in German, of course. I only happened upon it searching information
about a location we hoped to visit. The penalty for not having a sticker is
steep: 120 Euro steep ($156). It took me 2 days to figure it out too (so 240
Euro steep for me). The way they catch
you? Cameras. Or at least, you hope they catch you with cameras, because if a
cop pulls you over, they can demand 200 Euro in cash on the spot, plus the
ticket you will get in the mail later. I can be grateful that I probably only
have 1 or 2 pictures coming in the mail, and that the police didn’t notice my
naivete. Apparently, the Vignette is also required in Switzerland, Slovenia,
and Germany, among others.
Now on to the high points…
Side of the Road Wonders
Driving across country in the US usually reveals side of the
road rest stops and deserted gas stations. However, in Europe, rest stops and
deserted gas stations are replaced with deserted castles and rest “villages”.
The drive from Italy to Austria also includes trips through the Dolomites and
Alps. Plenty of side of the road photo ops, or if you’re like us, out the
window photo ops.
Driving (and Drivers) on the Autobahn
If you listen to Rick Steves, you’ll avoid the Autobahn
because he makes it into a hair-raising experience. If you’re like me, however,
you’ll look forward to every chance to use the Autobahn, because you’ll find
the best drivers in the world on it. I’m not kidding either. The rules are
simple, if you’re slow, stay in the right lane. If you’re slow in the left
lane, you get over. If you don’t get over, you deserve to be honked at or at
least have lights flashed at you. And the best part, everyone gets it. Not once
did I mutter out loud my usual rants in the car while driving in the US: “Get
out of the way!” “Why are you going so slow” or, most importantly, “At least go
the SPEED LIMIT!” (any one who has driven in the Midwest will appreciate that
one). Even better, trucks are not allowed in the fast lane! The Autobahn is a
perfect system where fast drivers can enjoy their freedom in the left lane and
slow drivers can do whatever it is they do in the right.
Speaking of drivers, there’s one peculiar thing missing from
the Autobahn that we regularly see on US Freeways: Skid marks. That’s right, I
didn’t see one skid mark (and broken light fragments were curiously absent as
well). Either the Austrians really
know how to clean a highway, or people are more attentive while driving. I
suspect it’s the latter.
No Speed Limit
This is a bit of a myth, there are speed limits on the
Autobahn, but there are also stretches where the speed limit isn’t restricted.
In fact, instead of having signs that indicate the new speed limit, the signs
indicate when the old speed limit is over. My GPS told me that those “no speed
limit” stretches had a limit of 130 km/hr, but I can tell you that I had cars
pushing me much faster than that…What can I say, when in Rome (or Austria)…
Stop Lights
Now this doesn’t have anything to do with the Autobahn, but
Curls and I noticed something very efficient about traffic lights in Austria.
Green lights begin to blink when they’re about to go to yellow, and even
better, the light turns yellow when it’s going from red to green (just like in
races). There’s no guessing, you know when to start revving your engine (and
believe me, everyone does on the yellow light). Curls and I both agreed that
the US should adopt this as soon as humanly possible.
Gas prices and Cost
I put this under the good side of driving despite the fact
that you pay 1.29-1.59 Euro per liter (not per gallon). Cars here have much
better gas mileage than in the US. For example, we drove from the Treviso Italy
area to Salzburg (5 hours of driving) on a half tank of gas (which is about
Euro 40). I don’t care how you slice the gallons to liters ratio, that kind of
mileage and price is unheard of in the US. Also, another highlight of Austria is gas is
much cheaper there. 1.29 in Salzburg vs. 1.59 in Treviso.
In the end, the cost to drive from Treviso to Salzburg was
18 Euro in tolls and a tank of gas (about 70 Euro). For 6 people, that’s much
better than taking the train.
Overall, driving the Autobahn was more than a bucket list
thing, it was invigorating. It would’ve been even better had I done a little
homework about the Vignettes beforehand.
